Waluigi's a Hero?
by SailorMoonatic28
Summary: When Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Wario all go missing who's left to save the day; Toad? Yoshi? No, Waluigi and his new friends, that's who! A fun adventure with everyone's favorite filler character and underdog Waluigi, and a rag-tag group of helpers inspired by Paper Mario!
1. The Big Disappear

It was just another day in Mushroom Town, the capital city of the Mushroom Kingdom, and Toad had been invited to Mario and Luigi's house for a Mario Party. He had arrived on time as usual and knocked on the door. "Mario! Luigi!" He called for the two plumbers but there was no answer. "Mario? Luigi?" He called again, looking around the empty house. Silence. They weren't anywhere in the house. The Mario Party board laid out on the living room table, all the pieces and snacks ready, but no one was there. "Oh no! This isn't good… Wait, maybe they went to the castle to invite Princess Peach!" Toad calmed down and decided to go to the castle and see if his friends were there.

Upon arriving at the castle Toad discovered that Princess Daisy had come and she and Princess Peach had left to attend the Mario party a half hour before. "Oh no, this is not good at all. What am I gonna do?!" He asked himself. Another toad who worked in the castle had an idea. "Go talk to Wario, he may know something." Toad looked incredulously at the other toad. "Are you kidding me?! That guy would turn me into mushroom soup if I got near him! I'm not going to talk to him!" The other toad shrugged. "It was just a thought. It IS better than going to Bowser after all. In fact, Bowser is probably responsible for this." Toad nodded apprehensively. "I suppose you're right about that…" "And, crude as he is, Wario would take on Bowser; we'd probably have to pay the creep a small fortune though." Toad continued to nod. "That's true too… fine, I'll go find Wario and ask him." Toad decided that the other toad was right, even dealing with Wario was better than dealing with Bowser so he left the castle and made his way to Wario's house.

Wario's house was in the worst part of town, where all the riffraff lived. Despite being greedy and stingy Wario could never hold on to his money for long so he'd lost his castle and settled for his crummy little shack with a garage for his baby, his prized, one of a kind, Wario Car; a customized Koopa Khrysler and one of the last Koopa Khryslers in existence. (They never sold well, the Koopas never really cared for or needed cars and even Bowser hated it, so it was the only Koopa car ever made and they only made five.) Toad cautiously made his way to the door and knocked. "W-Wario? A-Are you home?" No answer. Toad knocked again. "W-Wario? There's s-some trouble, Mario, Luigi, and the Princesses are gone… Help." Toad listened for Wario's gruff, Italian accented, voice but heard nothing, not even footsteps. He knocked again and this time the door slowly creaked open. "W-Wario?" Toad called timidly as he poked his head in and looked around. Wario was gone too. "Oh no! This is really bad. Even Wario's gone missing! What am I gonna do?" Toad wailed. He paced back and forth for a while and finally came to a conclusion. "I guess I'll have to go find them myself. I'm gonna need a LOT of power-ups." He said to himself as he headed to the marketplace. Toad looked for power-ups but he didn't find many he could afford. "Well, I have a fire flower, a couple of 1up shrooms and a poison shroom… I'm doomed." Toad shook his head and started to cry. "I can't do this! I'm not a hero character, I'm just a helper character; I'm just a toad! There's no way I can save all of them!"

Waluigi had just finished with his shopping trip; he needed to restock his kitchen since Wario showed his gluttonous side the last time he had come over to ask him to do maintenance on the Wario car. Waluigi was walking down the cobblestone street carrying his large bag of groceries, mostly doughnuts, stuff for making hamburgers, chips, and all the ingredients for his would-be famous spaghetti and meatballs. (Which would be famous if Wario would quit eating it all and let at least ONE other person besides Waluigi have some.) He couldn't really see over the large bag so as he was walking he didn't see the small obstacle in his path, and as a result, he tripped over it and fell on his face in the middle of the street. "Ouch!" he said, rubbing his nose as he looked around at his spilled groceries. Amongst the bags of chips and hamburger buns sat Toad, looking around frantically and apologizing to whomever he'd tripped. "You need to watch where you're going!" Waluigi barked.

Toad jumped and looked at him fearfully as he got up, dusted himself off and began to pick up his groceries. "W-Waluigi, you're still here?" He asked. "Yes. Unfortunately." Waluigi sneered as he put the doughnuts back in the bag and resumed walking to his house. Toad thought the current situation over, much as he didn't like Waluigi he was a little less scary than Wario, at least when he wasn't losing a tennis match anyway. Maybe he would help? "Uh, Waluigi there's some trouble." Toad said uncertainly as he started to follow Waluigi. "Go and tell Mario and Luigi. They're the heroes after all." Waluigi said dismissively. "That's just it; they're missing!" Toad explained as they started down a creepy-looking alleyway. "W-Where are we going?" He asked, noticing their surroundings. "I don't know about you, but I'm going home. This is my short cut." Toad followed Waluigi to the end of the alleyway that ended at Grimace Lane, one of the creepiest streets in town. Toad followed Waluigi for lack anything else to do since he didn't know how to get back to the better side of town.

Waluigi walked up to a shabby looking house with Toad close behind him. There were a couple of shutters hanging off the windows, a few shingles missing from the roof and the yard was more or less non-existent with only dried and dead weeds and a few shriveled mushroom plants around. Waluigi walked up the creaky porch steps with Toad cautiously following him, jumping nervously each time the old wood creaked under his little feet. "W-Waluigi you have to help… Even Wario is missing!" Toad pleaded with the tall and intimidating mechanic. Waluigi laughed as he opened the front door and walked inside. "Wario is gone too? Today just keeps getting better! Good riddance!" Waluigi laughed again as he walked into the kitchen and started to put his groceries away. Toad looked around, he had never been in Waluigi's house before and he was surprised. Despite the run-down condition of the house it was much cleaner than Wario's, (Toad had been there once for a Mario party and vowed he would never again set foot in Wario's personal dump when he saw a pretty weird looking shroom, growing out of a pizza box with a two-year old expiration date on it, wink at him.) Waluigi seemed to make an effort to have some cleanliness and organization in his house and his handiwork was displayed throughout the house as well. There was a chair in one corner of the room, the seat and back were made of wood and the legs were gone, replaced with new ones made of metal scraps from old Mario Karts from the look of it, including cushions from the seat of a Mario kart. There was also an old table in the center of the room that had been repaired with various Mario Kart parts too…

Toad was amazed, the repaired furniture was somewhat crude but upon inspection very sturdy. "Did you fix this furniture yourself Waluigi?" Toad asked, sitting on the chair and realizing just how comfy it was. "Yeah, it's nothing fancy and I can't afford the fancy stuff. But this stuff suits me." Waluigi said, pulling himself out a bottle of grape juice from his fridge. "It's really impressive work; I'm surprised a plumber can do this." Toad said. "I'm not a plumber you little fungus!" Waluigi barked. Toad leaped up fearfully from the chair, being reminded of just who he was talking to. "I-I'm sorry, I just thought-" "Well you thought wrong dummy." Waluigi said, taking a swig of his grape juice. "I-If you're not a plumber, then what _do_ you do?" Toad asked. "I'm a mechanic if it's any of your business." "Really?" "Who do you think everyone comes whining to when they tear up their Mario Karts in a race; Bowser?" Waluigi asked sarcastically. "Right… makes sense I guess… Wait; there are more important matters at hand right now!" Toad remembered why he was at Waluigi's house in the first place. "You have to do something Waluigi, even your own brother's gone missing." Toad pleaded. Waluigi shot Toad a frightening look. "That fat head's no brother of mine! Just because we're the Stuper Mario Brothers' rivals doesn't mean we're brothers too!" He snapped. "B-But, you're always team mates for Mario events and-" Toad stammered until Waluigi cut him off. "Yeah? That's just cuz tub o' lard can't get anyone else to team up with him, even his own cousins." Toad swallowed hard. "R-Really? B-But I thought for sure-" "No! I'm not related to those three shroom-heads! I'm just the guy they call to even out the number of players in a Tardio party; I'm just a filler character for shroom's sake! An underrated, underappreciated, overlooked, left out, FILLER CHARACTER!" Waluigi barked, slumping down in another chair. Toad stood there, in silence, just watching as Waluigi took a deep breath, and hung his head. 'Wow, this guy is even more insecure than _I_ am.' Toad thought to himself, feeling a little pity for Waluigi.

Waluigi continued his rant after a moment. "If I was that fat head Wario's brother then maybe I wouldn't be a filler character and I could've at least gotten a cameo in something…" "Uh… There, there Waluigi, you're still a popular filler character." Toad said, unable to believe he was comforting Waluigi of all people. "Bah! I don't want your sympathy or your pity you little fungus!" Waluigi snapped, swatting Toad's hand away. Toad stepped back. "Okay… back to the matter at hand… even Princess Peach and Princess Daisy are missing! You're really the last person anyone would ask for help, but you're the last person to ask for help right now so please-" Waluigi cut Toad off again. "How many times do I have to tell you, I ain't gonna- Wait… did you say Princess Daisy is missing too?" Waluigi now seemed interested in what Toad had to say. "Yes, she is. Along with everyone else. Will you please help?" Waluigi thought about it for a moment, twisting one side of his sharply pointed mustache around his finger. "Princess Daisy is in trouble and that stupid goody-two shoes Luigi can't save her this time…This could be my big change to impress her and show her I'm not just some lame-o filler character and that I'm 10,000 times better than the sniveling little hero wanna-be!" "So does that mean you'll help?" Toad asked, not sure asking Waluigi was such a good idea. "Yes, I'll do it for Daisy!" Waluigi exclaimed with a fist pump.

"Great, I'll go along and be your side kick and help you out where I can, I've only got one fire flower, two 1-up shrooms, and a poison shroom, but I know I can help!" Waluigi just looked at Toad blankly for a second then laughed. "I don't need a side kick but if you want to help I do have a _very_ important job and I guess you could handle it." Toad nodded enthusiastically, if he could do something to help Waluigi save his friends and show his gratitude he would do anything. "I'll do it! You can count on me! Since you've agreed to help everyone I'll help you however I can in return!" Waluigi led Toad down the hall to the back door, through the back yard and toward a greenhouse. When Toad saw the greenhouse he couldn't help but be surprised. 'He's a mechanic _and_ a gardener? Will wonders ever cease? I guess Waluigi _does_ have a not-so scary side to him after all, he grows flowers and he agreed to go save everyone…I guess he isn't so bad! I wonder what kind of flowers he grows? Maybe daisies or petunias?' Then Waluigi opened the door and Toad immediately realized how wrong he was.

The whole greenhouse was full of piranha plants! "You can water and feed my piranha plants while I'm gone." Waluigi said, petting a piranha plant. "You've got to be kidding me!" Toad cried as the plants seemed to eye him hungrily. Waluigi just laughed. "Don't worry; they're tame… as long as they're fed! Wah-Hahahahaha!" A piranha plant hissed at Toad, causing him to jump and Waluigi to laugh even harder. Toad crossed his arms and looked as cross as he dared at Waluigi. 'I take it back. Waluigi wouldn't even know what a not-so scary side is if it slapped him with a cheep-cheep! He's as bad as Wario, the only thing about him that's better is his smell!' "What? You don't like my pets? Well if you can't take care of my babies while I'm gone then I guess I can't go save your lousy friends." Waluigi said, crossing his arms and giving Toad the ultimatum. Toad thought about it for a minute and came to the conclusion that it was selfish to refuse to do this one thing for Waluigi since he did agree to save everybody. "Oh okay, I'll take care of your piranha plants." He said, swallowing hard as a piranha plant loomed over him, almost grinning as if to say 'I'm gonna have so much fun with you…'

Mario, Luigi, Wario, Daisy, and Peach sat in cages that were suspended by large chains connected to the ceiling of the large dungeon-like room they were being held in. The cages were far enough apart that they couldn't reach each other and far too far away from the door, the single window and the walls and the key hung, on the wall beside the door, just to taunt them. The cages were also high enough off the floor that they couldn't try to swing them to knock out the guard when he entered the room or their captor when he entered to taunt them. "What are we gonna do? What are we gonna do Mario?" Luigi said in dismay. "Aw, shut up ya whiny baby!" Wario snapped. "How about you shut up; you big fat dummy!" Daisy barked at Wario. "Hey, how about we all calm down and try to figure this out together? I know we'll get out of this mess somehow; we always do." Mario said, trying to be optimistic. "Mario's right, we need to work together." Peach added. "Ha! Good luck twits." Their mysterious captor's charismatic but cold voice came from the doorway. "It won't be long now, with all of you under lock and key there's no one left to stop me, the mushroom kingdom will bow before me and not even the Koopa King can stand in my way!" He said with a laugh as he walked away. "You know bro, I still get the weird feeling I've seen him somewhere before. I wonder who the heck he is?" Luigi pondered, feeling like they might be in serious trouble.


	2. Koopas & Goombas

While Toad got "acquainted" with the Piranha plants Waluigi gathered things he was fairly certain he would need: His mallet, a couple handfuls of pocket-sized Bob-ombs, some of his special insta-grow piranha plant seeds, and a wrench from his tool box. Once he was sure he was ready he left his house and made his way out of town. Waluigi gave a lot of thought to his first course of action and figured he may as well deal with the other usual suspect first: Bowser, the Koopa King. As Waluigi was exiting town he saw a group of Goombas that he was all too familiar with. They called themselves 'The Great Goomba Group' and they were just a bunch of little punks who always gave him a hard time, him and Wario, although Waluigi could've cared less the fact is they always messed up Wario's car so it came back on him anyway. Waluigi decided to get a little payback on those punks so he pulled out a bob-omb, wound it up, and chucked it at the Goomba group.

Goombash, the leader of the group, was leading them in harassing a young Goomba girl. "Come on cutie; let's go get a shroom shake together!" He said, trying to force her to come with him into town. "How many times do I have to tell you shell-heads that I'm not going anywhere with any of you!" She snapped, tossing back her purple braid. The Goomba goons chuckled. "You ain't gonna find a better Goomba guy than Goombash." One said. "Yeah, Goombash is the best!" Another added. Suddenly a little bob-omb landed in the middle of their huddle. "Hey what's this? Is it a toy?" one of the Goomba goons asked as he looked at the little bob-omb. "Oh shroom, that's a real bob-omb and it's gonna blow!" Goombash exclaimed as he looked at the little explosive as it began to blink red. The girl Goomba quickly ducked into a nearby bush for cover just seconds before the bob-omb exploded, sending Goombash and his goons flying in all different directions.

Waluigi watched as the Goomba punks went flying and laughed. "That's what you get you lousy punks! Wahahaha!" The Goomba girl pulled herself out of the bush and saw Waluigi. "Well I'll be a koopa's aunt; Waluigi threw that bob-omb." She said to herself. She walked over to Waluigi as his laughter was calming down. "Who are you?" He asked when he noticed the little purple Goomba girl standing in front of him. She looked up at him. "I'm Goombette, those idiots were pestering me and your bob-omb was the answer to my prayers." She said. "I was just getting my revenge on those little punks." Waluigi said. "Well whatever your reason you helped me, so I guess that means I owe you one." Goombette said. Waluigi thought about it for a moment. "What could you do or give me since you owe me, eh?" "How about you tell me what you're up to for starters, then we'll talk." Waluigi then explained his mission to Goombette. "Oh? Well then I have just the thing; my uncle Goomber works for Professor E. Gadd and he gave me some of the chain chomp orbs from the orb machines they made for the Mario Parties." Waluigi grinned; chain chomp orbs would be nice additions to his artillery. "I can also offer my help as well. I may not look it, and that little scene earlier wasn't exactly my best moment, but I am a pretty good fighter. I'm also pretty knowledgeable too." Waluigi pondered her offer for a moment, and then Goombash came waltzing up.

"I bet you think you're really something you beanpole! I'll make you pay for throwing that bob-omb!" Before Goombash could make good on his threat Goombette whipped out her hammer and smashed Goombash flat as a pancake. "Beat it you bum!" She snapped as the flattened Goombash ran off whimpering and threatening his revenge. "Say, you're pretty handy with that hammer." Waluigi remarked, actually a little impressed with the Goomba girl's spunk. "You bet I am. I can also use a boomerang too. So does that mean you'll accept my offer to help you?" Waluigi shrugged. "Do whatever you want, I need to get going." "Okay then. I'll go with you but if you want me to leave then just say the word and I'm history." Goombette said as the two started their journey to Koopaland."

"You stupid little Goomba brains! Can't you do anything right?" Wendy O. Koopa barked at her Koopa Troopa escorts as they tripped and dropped her bags of clothes and jewels she had just purchased in Koopa Town. Wendy O. Koopa was Bowser's daughter and she was daddy's little princess, which meant she got everything she wanted. She wore a big pink bow on top of her head that matched her pink spiked shell, a string of large pearls around her neck, large gold bracelets, and pink high heeled shoes. Wendy may have been a spoiled princess but she had no qualms with getting her hands dirty if she needed to and, in her own mind at least, was not only the toughest lady Koopa but the most beautiful too. (No one else believes that at all.) As Wendy was scolding her escorts her attention was drawn to the outsider that was walking past her. It was Waluigi, the taller, and more intelligent of the Wario Bros. and Wendy had to wonder what he was doing in town. Waluigi didn't normally work with her father and she hadn't heard of any new schemes either. Wendy decided to ask Waluigi what he was up to, walking around Koopa town.

Waluigi and Goombette were headed for Bowser's castle when a pink shelled Koopa stepped in front of them. "Why hello there, tall, dark, and…lanky. What brings you to these parts, hm?" Wendy asked flirtatiously. Goombette gagged a little. "Oh gosh, is she really _flirting_ with you?" Wendy shot Goombette a look. "Shut your trap you little fungus!" Waluigi sighed. "Oh, brother. Look I don't got any business with you, I just wanna see Bowser." Wendy batted her eyelashes at Waluigi. "Sure thing sweet 'n' sour. I'll take you right to him." Wendy led Waluigi and Goombette to Bowser's castle. Along the way Waluigi crossed his fingers and prayed that he could leave quickly. "This is ridiculous! Mario and Luigi get beautiful princesses and even Wario gets Mona and what do I get? The lousy Koopa king's lousy daughter! This isn't fair!" He muttered under his breath.

When they arrived at Bowser's castle Wendy said that her father was in the throne room. Waluigi and Goombette marched right into the throne room. Bowser was contemplating his next evil plot when the door to his throne room flew open. He looked over and saw Waluigi and Goombette. "Whaddaya want?" He asked. "What did you do with the Mario Bros. and the Princesses?!" Goombette demanded. "And Fat-head." Waluigi added referring to Wario. Bowser looked at them blankly for a moment. "I don't know what you're talking about." He said. "Don't play dumb, they were gonna throw a Mario Party but they've all disappeared and their little toadstooge asked me for help." Waluigi explained, glaring at Bowser. "WHAT! They were throwing a Mario Party and they didn't invite ME!?" Bowser yelled angrily. Waluigi and Goombette just stared incredulously at the Koopa King for a moment, then Waluigi found his tongue. "What are you upset about that for? They _never_ invite you; you always just crash the party." "That's beside the point! When you find them I'm gonna roast them all!" Bowser boomed. Goombette tugged on Waluigi's sleeve so he would bend down and she could whisper to him without Bowser hearing. "I don't think he did it." "Or maybe he's just a good actor?" Waluigi whispered back. They both looked at Bowser for a moment then shook their heads. "Nah." "I don't have a plot to capture anybody right now and I know that my Koopalings don't have any evil plots going right now either, so buzz off loser!" Bowser said, dismissing Waluigi.

"Wha? 'Loser'! I'll show you who's a loser shell for brains!" Waluigi barked at Bowser who just laughed. Just then Wendy walked in and Waluigi hit her with his mallet (Instead of the Koopa Troopa by the door that he was actually aiming for.) and she screamed and ducked into her shell as it went flying across the room. Wendy ricocheted off the walls a couple of times before colliding with her father's nose. "STIIIIRIKE!" Waluigi exclaimed as Wendy peeked out of her shell and saw her father's nose. "Oh, daddy, I'm SO sorry, it wasn't my fault I swear!" She whimpered, slowly inching toward the door. Waluigi laughed and exited the throne room with Goombette before Bowser could yell at him. "Ha! That was hysterical Waluigi!" Goombette said, laughing as they exited the castle.

Then they heard a voice behind them. "Just where do you think you're going honey mustard?" Waluigi shuttered as he turned around. "What?" "I heard you talking to my daddy. Not that I want to help those miserable little creeps but…" Waluigi braced himself. "But what?" "I want to get to know you better Waluigi, besides if _I'm_ with you Daddy's minions won't be as much of a problem for you." Waluigi contemplated the idea. The pros were that her shell made a dandy weapon and she did have a point, Bowser's Koopa Troopas wouldn't attack his daughter. The con was that she had a crush on him so Waluigi would be fighting her off all the time. Pros _did_ outweigh the cons. Waluigi sighed, knowing he would regret his decision later. "Okay fine. But you do as I say, got it?" Wendy practically jumped for joy. "You got it!" "Are you sure that it's a good idea to let her come along?" Goombette asked. "You saw how useful her shell is. Besides, if I say no she'll either follow me anyway or set all the Koopa Troopas on me." Waluigi replied. Goombette nodded, he had a point; daddy's little princess could be more problematic if they didn't indulge her just a little bit.

The now trio continued their journey away from Koopaland and to...parts unknown? "Where are we going cookie crumb?" Wendy asked, batting her eyelashes again. Waluigi shuttered a little. "I...I don't really know. Wah! I have no idea how to this 'hero' stuff!" He fumed, frustrated at having no idea where to go next. Bowser didn't kidnap Mario and the others and obviously Wario didn't do anything so then who else could have done it? "That's okay, we can just go wherever the mood takes us~" Wendy said flirtatiously. "King Boo. We should go to Forest Haunts and pay that big ball of hot air a visit." Goombette said, popping in between Waluigi and Wendy. "Who asked you, repulsive fungus?" Wendy said, turning up her nose. "Waluigi decides where we go, don't you?" Waluigi held back the urge to throw up and looked down at Goombette. "That's a good idea. Now that you mention it King Boo doesn't like Mario either." "So it's settled, on to Forest Haunts!" Goombette said as she started to walk. Waluigi followed Goombette and Wendy was right behind him.

"Oww... I think I chipped a tooth!" Wario whined, sticking a finger in his mouth to check. "Did you really think you could CHEW your way out?" Peach asked incredulously. "Yeah, I didn't think even YOU were that stupid Wario." Daisy added. "I don't see you creampuffs doing anything constructive so shut yer faces!" Wario snapped back. "We'll get out of here; we just need a plan... What about the ceiling?" Mario said thoughtfully. "If I can find a way to release the chain on my cage that'll be a start." He said, climbing the side of the cage, following the curve at the top until he was hanging upside down. He reached up and tugged on the chain, it gave a little!

"Yes! I think this might just work!" He exclaimed as he tugged on the chain even harder. Suddenly he heard a click, then a panel in the ceiling above the cage opened and a small cannon popped out. "Oh shroom..." He whispered just before it blew flames in his face. "Wahaha-ooo!" he cried as his face was scorched. Mario fell back onto the floor of the cage, the tip of the right side of his mustache still lit like a candle. "Hey bro, you okay?" Luigi was now really sure they were in serious trouble.


	3. Peek-a-King Boo

Waluigi, Goombette and Wendy arrived in Forest Haunts after a day's travel. It was definitely creepy, all the dead trees and poison shrooms everywhere gave the place enough of a setting, but the fact that it was night time and so cloudy that the moon wasn't visible just topped it off. "You know, I like this place." Waluigi said, looking at some wild piranha plants and thinking of his 'babies' back home. "I know, right? This place is actually pretty cool." Goombette said, really digging the creepy atmosphere.

"This place is SO scary! I just want to get out of here as soon as possible!" Wendy said, wildly looking in all directions in an attempt to catch anyone or anything that might sneak up on her. Suddenly a frog croaked behind her. Her first thought was to stomp it but she figured that playing the damsel in distress might get Waluigi's attention; after all she is the Koopa Princess and the other princesses get their men by being kidnapped and all helpless all the time. "Eek! Waluigi help me!" She squealed, latching onto Waluigi who just glanced at the frog. "Get off!" He snapped, shrugging her off. "Let's get this straight... DON'T TOUCH ME!" Wendy backed away. "You're so rude, you're supposed to squash the frog and protect your princess." Waluigi just walked away muttering under his breath. "You're no princess, and definitely NOT mine."

When they arrived in Spook Town they were met with the un-welcoming committee, a group of three Boos. "Hey, you guys can't just walk around here like you own the place." The leader of the group said. He was wearing a fedora with a red band. "Yeah, you outsiders better have a real good reason for being here." The second said. He wore a fedora with a grey band. The third Boo was wearing a fedora with a blue band and seemed a little nervous. "Y-yeah, you guys are...uh, stepping on our turf...I guess." "Oh yeah?" Waluigi sneered. The Boo with the grey fedora scowled and got in his face. "Yeah, this is Al CaBoo's town and if you know what's good for you you'll leave quickly." The Boo with the red fedora grinned smugly. "Exactly; this is my town and you can't be here unless you can pay the tax."

"I highly doubt you're anything more than a group of thugs." Goombette said, glaring at the trio of Boos. "Brooser, show this little shroom what happens when you don't pay." Al CaBoo said. The grey fedora wearing Boo then leapt forward at Goombette, pulled a scary Boo face, then punched her; sending her flying. "Aaahhh!" she cried as she flew into some nearby trees. "Wah! Alright, now you're gonna get it!" Waluigi threw out some of his insta-grow piranha plant seeds and within seconds three piranha plants sprouted and snapped at the three Boos. Waluigi had actually gotten somewhat attached to his little Goomba companion and didn't like these would-be gangster Boos picking on her.

"Eeep!" The blue fedora wearing Boo screeched as he jumped to the side. "Come on Boomer! Don't just float there, _do_ something!" Al CaBoo snapped. Boomer looked around nervously and tried his best to scare the piranha plants with a scary Boo giggle that sounded like a baby rattle. The piranha plants just laughed at him. Goombette came running up from the trees to rejoin her group and as she did whipped out her hammer and flattened Al CaBoo with it. "Uh-oh... now you did it..." Boomer said quietly.

After he recovered, Al CaBoo growled and huffed and puffed till he turned red before suddenly shrieking for the rest of his gang of Boos. Almost immediately there were dozens of Boos everywhere! All of them using scary Boo faces, shrieks, and giggles at all of them. Some even pretended to be mushrooms and bushes so as to scare Waluigi's little group. All except for Boomer, who was actually kind of afraid himself. "What's wrong with you?" Brooser snapped. "I-I'm doing my best okay!" Boomer snapped back, trying to calm himself and join the rest of the Boos.

"Uh, what are we gonna do? We're SURROUNDED!" Wendy cried as the little threesome found themselves back to back to back, surrounded by Boos. "You should hide in your shell Wendy; you'll be safer that way." Goombette said, looking around at the Boos, a plan formulating in her mind. "I am NOT taking orders from you!" Wendy snapped, glaring at Goombette. Waluigi could see Goombette had a plan so he shot Wendy a look. "Shuddap and do it!" He barked. Wendy cowered a little as Waluigi glared at her. "Anything you say..." She said slowly as she slid into her shell. "What're you gonna do?" Waluigi asked Goombette as the Boos closed in. "You'll need your hammer, remember how useful her shell is? Well let's see how much more useful it is with this!" Goombette pulled out an invicibility star. "Where'd you get that?!" He asked, looking at the flashing, sparkling star. "I've just been saving this for an emergency and this, Waluigi, is an emergency. Now get ready to play some Pin-Boo!" She said as she tossed the star toward Wendy.

As soon as the star touched Wendy she started to flash and sparkle just like the star. "What the-" Before she could say anything else Waluigi swung his hammer and launched her at the Boos. Her spiky shell bounced and ricocheted off the group of Boos, knocking them out left and right. Waluigi threw some of his mini bob-ombs and Goombette whacked a few Boos with her hammer, he punched a few and she stomped others. Pretty soon they had finished off all the Boos except Al CaBoo and Brooser. They floated their ground as Waluigi and Goombette stood with their hammers at the ready. "Any last words boys?" Goombette asked smugly. Waluigi grinned evilly; he was really enjoying getting to pummel these stupid Boos and show off his skills. Al CaBoo gritted his teeth. He looked around him, lots of unconscious Boos, Brooser, and no Boomer. "Boomer where are you? Get your tail out here!"

Boomer came out from behind the trees and nervously joined his group. "Do you guys really think this is a smart idea? Maybe we should just leave them alone..." He said timidly. Al CaBoo shot him a look. "They've insulted me and that is unacceptable." "I suppose we shouldn't be surprised that you would suggest running away, you're the only Boo I know who's afraid of his own shadow!" Brooser added. "I am NOT afraid of my own-" Al CaBoo cut him off. "Both of you just shut up and get ready to launch our Boo trio attack." Al CaBoo and Brooser readied themselves for their attack. "Bring it on!" Goombette challenged. Waluigi tightened his grip on his hammer and prepared to either defend or counter the Boos attack. "No." Al CaBoo and Brooser looked at Boomer. "What did you just say?" Al CaBoo shot Boomer a look. "I'm done letting you jerks boss me around and treat like me dirt." Boomer said, sounding more confident than he actually was. "Oh really? You're actually trying to turn on me? Fine then; I'll scare you off too!" Al CaBoo charged at Boomer with Brooser right behind him.

Boomer took a deep breath and then pulled the scariest Boo face a Boo ever pulled, shrieking at Al CaBoo and Brooser just before he stomped them flat. Al CaBoo and Brooser fled as quickly as they could, looking like a pair of Frisbees flying into the forest. "Wow." Goombette said as she and Waluigi watched the two Boos flee with the rest quickly following. "That was pretty good!" Waluigi laughed watching the Boos flee. Boomer sighed in relief knowing Al CaBoo and Brooser were gone, then he looked at Waluigi fearfully. "I-I don't want to fight you guys, you can just go and do what you want." "Actually, I think you should join our team. We could use a good Boo like you." Goombette said. "Yeah, that's a good idea. He may be more useful than her." Waluigi said, motioning over his shoulder at Wendy who was lying on the ground somewhere between consciousness and dizziness.

"Y-You really want me to join you?" Boomer asked. "Sure!" Goombette smiled. "O-Okay. Well let's meet properly, I'm Boomer." Boomer took of his hat and bowed politely. "I'm Goombette and the KO'd Koopa back there is Wendy." Goombette said. "And I'm Waluigi, the leader of this... team. You do as I say and we'll get along great." Boomer smiled. "Sure thing New Boss! So, what are doing first?" "Going to talk to King Boo." Goombette replied. Suddenly Boomer wasn't so sure joining Waluigi was a good idea.

After the battle with the Boos (and Wendy finally recovered from being used as a weapon) Waluigi's little rag-tag group continued onward to find King Boo. As they traveled towards King Boo's Mansion they learned that Boomer liked to talk; he told them a bit about Forest Haunts. "So, we should be getting closer to King Boo's mansion, I'm pretty sure it's this way I just don't know for sure how far but it's really big and scary-looking so it'll be hard to miss and-" Wendy cut him off. "Will you SHUT UP!?" She was getting tired of listening to the rambling Boo so she snapped at him and got up in his face. "You talk WAY too much and it's so _annoying_!" She barked as Boomer cowered and shrunk away. Goombette whacked her with her hammer. "Leave him alone you spoiled eggshell!" Wendy rubbed her new goose egg and shot Goombette a look. Goombette ignored her and turned to Boomer.

"It's okay; she's just a brat so ignore her. We're all friends here." "R-really? It's nice to have friends for once." Boomer said, little tears of happiness welling up in his eyes. Waluigi said nothing but listened to the conversation and couldn't help being a little bit touched, Goombette said they were friends, someone actually considered him a friend. "Yeah, isn't that right Waluigi?" Goombette asked, looking at Waluigi. He looked at the Goomba girl and the Boo thoughtfully for a moment before answering. "Uh... yeah, yeah we're friends." He said, finding himself making a tiny smile. Wendy shuddered. "That was creepy; you should stick to your normal, broody, mean expressions." She said as she batted her eyelashes. It was now Waluigi's turn to shudder. "Let's just go now."

Eventually they arrived at King Boo's mansion. It was foreboding, dark, and just all around creepy. From a distance the front door and the two windows above it looked like a creepy face. Waluigi opened the door and they stepped inside. "Hello? **_HELLO!_** " Waluigi called only to receive no response. Boomer turned back to the door. "Well, I guess no one's home so let's go-" "That's a red flag! If the place is empty then that means King Boo is up to something, he could be the culprit!" Goombette said. Waluigi nodded. "Yeah, so we're going to look around; there may be a clue or a trace of Daisy here!" Wendy's expression got even more annoyed at the mention of Princess Daisy because Waluigi clearly got a bit dreamy and she didn't like that. "Yeah, maybe you'll get a big reward for saving their hides, then we can go on a romantic cruise or something~!" She said dreamily, trying to pull Waluigi away from the subject of Daisy. "A cruise with Daisy would be nice..." He said dreamily. Wendy glared at him before smacking him. "I meant with _me_ not her!" Goombette just laughed. "Oh, give it up Wendy." Wendy then glared at Goombette and smacked her. At that point they were fighting each other, until Waluigi yelled at them. "Knock it OFF!" He barked and they froze in place, Goombette with her hammer in mid swing and Wendy with her fist just inches away from Goombette's face. "Let's go." He said, walking down the hall with Boomer silently following him.

They made their way down the winding hallways for a long time, each hallway identical to the last, until finally Wendy had had enough. "All these halls look the same! I can't stand it! We're never gonna find our way outta this place!" she snapped. "You know; she might actually have a good point this time…" They stood in a four-way intersection of hallways hoping they weren't as lost as they felt and Goombette looked around at the maze-like halls as she pondered the possible truth in Wendy's words. Waluigi nodded and looked around trying to figure out how they could try to find their way around this place. If he'd have thought to bring an extra-long rope then he could tie it to a door knob and use it to figure out where they've been and find their way if they needed to back track.

"I-It's not hard at all actually." Boomer said. "Whaddya mean?" Waluigi asked. "Well its simple; look at the floor. "Huh?" Wendy and Goombette looked at the floor. "I don't see-" "It's the carpet right?" Goombette cut Wendy off, looking at the red runner carpet on the floor along one of the halls. "Exactly; the main hall has a long red carpet running down it. In fact if we go left down the main hall and take the first left off of it followed by two rights we'll be back at the front door." Boomer explained, making motions with his hands as he gave the directions. "Wait a minute; you know your way around here?" Waluigi asked surprised at Boomer's knowledge of the house. "Y-Yeah… I've been the only one that could remember the way through this place when I came through with Al CaBoo and his gang when Al CaBoo was called to see King Boo." "You don't say… Well, then lead the way Boomer!" Goombette said, motioning for him to float ahead. "I'm not following this 'fraidy-Boo!" Wendy snapped, turning her nose up. "Okay well we're gonna go with Boomer and you can do what you want." Waluigi said, walking past Wendy and tired of yelling at her by this point. "Wh-what?! You're not just gonna leave me here all alone are you!?" she cried in alarm. "If you're not coming; then yeah, we are." Goombette replied as the three started down the red carpeted hall. "NO! Don't leave me alone in this creepy place!" Wendy cried, running after the group.

Meanwhile, back in town… Toad was looking after Waluigi's piranha plants and they were having a grand 'ol time harassing him! They nipped at his vest and hissed in his ears every time he got too close and snickered when he jumped and squeaked with fear. "I don't know how much longer I can take this!" He cried, nearly at his wits end. (Poor little Toad!) Sitting back in the living room of Waluigi's house he was about to say 'To shroom with this!' when he heard a knock at the front door. Toad crept cautiously to the door and called out as he peeked through the peep hole to see who was out there. "W-who's th-th-there?" Much to Toad's great relief he was greeted with a familiar green sight and the sound of Yoshi's attempts to communicate with him. "Yoshi!" Toad cried with tears of joy as he flung open the door. Yoshi came in and licked Toad then gave a look of concern. Toad explained everything to Yoshi.

"You were looking for everybody too; weren't you Yoshi?" Toad asked. Yoshi nodded. "Well don't worry; Waluigi is out trying to find and rescue them!" Toad said, hoping he sounded more confident than he felt. Yoshi just shook his head and made a small noise as if to say "Shroom help us all." "Hey, it's okay." Toad said, putting a hand on Yoshi's head in a gesture of comfort. "Now that you're here I feel better because I'm not alone in this creepy place." Yoshi nodded and licked him again. Toad giggled and hugged Yoshi. "And" He started, looking at Yoshi seriously now. "You can help me in my mission Waluigi assigned me." Yoshi looked at him curiously. "You can help me watch his piranha plants!" Yoshi shook his head and sighed.

Back at King Boo's haunted house the little foursome finally made their way to the big ornate door that led to King Boo's chamber. "I-I-I'm g-gonna just w-wait out here." Boomer stammered as he slowly floated backwards away from the door. "You coward!" Wendy screeched and Boomer cowered as she yelled at him. Goombette smacked her with her hammer again. "Stop bulling him you brat!" She snapped. "You wanna stay out here? Fine. Better than you getting in the way." Waluigi said as he grabbed the door knob. "See? It's okay. You can wait out here. I don't blame you either; King boo is the scariest Boo there ever was and even I'm a little nervous about seeing him." Goombette said reassuringly. "Gee, you're nicer than my old boss, New Boss." Boomer said. "Yeah, yeah. I just wanna get this over with so I can get home to my piranha plants." Waluigi muttered as he, Goombette, and Wendy entered King Boo's chamber.

"HOW DARE YOU BARGE INTO MY CHAMBER!" King Boo boomed as they entered. "Alright enough hot air you giant marshmallow!" Waluigi barked back. "What'd you do with the Stuper Marios, the princesses and Fat-Head?" "Yeah! We know you kidnapped them all so tell us where they are and maybe we'll go easy on you!" Goombette added. "I don't know about them but I'll make you pay for this intrusion!" King Boo roared. Wendy peeked out from behind Waluigi. "Hey now! I'm Bowser's daughter and he wouldn't like it if I was hurt or upset so you might wanna think twice about doing anything to us unless you wanna face daddy's wrath!" She snapped. King Boo laughed. "I'm not scared of Bowser and I'm most definitely not scared of YOU!" He boomed and pulled a massive scary boo face sending Wendy fleeing from the room. "WAHHHH!" She screamed as she ran and crashed smack into Boomer.

Boomer was frightened by Wendy crashing into him and it caused him to scream which frightened Wendy even more, making her continue to scream. They screamed in unison for a moment and from inside the room King Boo could hear and see the whole display and laughed. While he was laughing at Wendy and Boomer Waluigi saw his opportunity. "Hey, Goombette, gimme one of those chain chomp orbs." He whispered, leaning down as she handed him an orb. Waluigi straightened up and threw an orb. Goombette threw one too for good measure and as they landed near King Boo they popped open and out of them popped two chain chomps!

The chain chomps chomped at King Boo who tried to run away from them. "Get away from me you menaces!" He bellowed as he flew about the room in every which direction trying to avoid the chain chomps. "Tell us where they are and we'll get rid of the chain chomps!" Goombette demanded. "Yeah! Unless you wanna be chain chomp food!" Waluigi added. "I don't know! I don't know where they are! Now get these things away from me!" King Boo adamantly denied any knowledge or involvement in the disappearance of the Mushroom Kingdom's most famous residents. "What do you think Waluigi?" Goombette asked, looking up at the tall mechanic. He pinched one side of his mustache and slowly ran his fingers down it thoughtfully, like an atypical mustachioed villain, for a moment before answering. He was amused watching King Boo but knew there a was a problem; once those chain chomps finished with King Boo they wouldn't just obediently get back into the orbs (The orbs were one use only anyway, they were completely useless now.) and they certainly wouldn't obey commands; obedient is the one thing chain chomps are not. Waluigi was trying to figure out how they would deal with the chain chomps. "Waluigi? DO you think he's lying or what?" Goombette asked, raising her voice a bit to get his attention. Waluigi looked down at Goombette. "Whether or not he's lying is beside the point… do YOU know how we're gonna deal with those things?"

Goombette looked at the chain chomps chasing King Boo. "I said: GET THESE THINGS AWAY FROM ME!" He bellowed again. "You know, come to think of it… I don't actually know how to get rid of them either." She said. "Well then I guess you're gonna be chain chomp food anyway." Waluigi said to King Boo with a shrug. "What do you mean you can't get rid of them? You said-" "I lied." Waluigi cut off the large boo and laughed. King Boo growled and darted past the chain chomps at Waluigi and Goombette. "I'm gonna scare you so good!" He yelled as he charged them. The two pulled out their hammers and struck him together at the same time. He flattened for a moment and one of the chain chomps took the opportunity and bit his tail causing him to yelp and fly out the door as quickly as he could before the other chain chomp could sink its teeth into him. "Well, it looks like we struck out again. Now where should we look?" Goombette asked. Waluigi shrugged. "I dunno but we better scram outta here before he comes back or WE'RE gonna be chain chomp food!"

King Boo came flying out of his chamber with the two chain chomps behind him, whizzing right past Boomer, who the chain chomps noticed. "Uh-oh… nice little chain chomps…" He said slowly as he backed away from the chain chomps. They kept snapping and chomping at him until his back was against the wall. "Oh boy…" He whimpered as he felt the wooden wall against his back. He shook and shivered for a moment before thinking to call for help. "N-new B-boss…New B-boss…" He whimpered, almost not even making a sound. A chain chomp almost chomped his hand, as he jerked his hand away he then bellowed at the top of his lungs. "W-WALUIGI!" as he bellowed he made his scary boo face and frightened the chain chomps so good they crashed into each other several times as they fled the mansion, whimpering and crying the whole way. Boomer stared after them for a minute until he saw Waluigi and Goombette in the hallway. "Nice going Boomer!" Goombette cheered. "At least I don't have to worry about those chain chomps now." Waluigi said. "Uh, you're welcome New Boss! Happy to be of help!" "Hey, where's Wendy?" Goombette looked around but saw no sign of the Koopaling. "I don't know… she ran off screaming." Boomer answered. "Well let's get outta here before she or that big ball of hot air finds us!" Waluigi said, heading quickly toward the exit with Goombette and Boomer close behind.

"Well I give up. I don't know how we're gonna get out of here." Mario said, dropping to his tush in his cage. "Don't give up Mario! There's always a way-" "Aw shaddup you creampuff!" Wario cut off Peach and grunted irritably. "Hey! Don't talk to peach that way you jerk!" Luigi defended the princess. "Oh, and just what are you gonna do you green chicken!" "Calm down you! All of this attitude and fighting isn't gonna get us anywhere!" Daisy said. "She's right! Stop being such a grouch." Mario agreed. "Nothin's getting us outta here so what does it even matter! The only good thing about this is that that stupid bean pole isn't here!" Wario fumed, flopping down on his fat tush and rubbing his rumbling gut.

"Hey, I've got an idea!" Luigi said, jumping up. "Oh yeah and what's your idea smart guy?" Wario grumbled. Luigi ignored him and turned his attention to the Koopa guard at the door. "Hey! Uh, excuse me… Mr. Guard?" The guard looked up at him. "Could you hand me the key? Pretty please?" "Well… since you asked so nicely I suppose I could." He said and took the key from the hook by the door and handed it to Luigi. "Thanks!" The others watched incredulously as the exchange happened. "You've gotta be kidding me… all you had to do was ask nicely?" Mario said in total disbelief. "Hey, sometimes that's all it takes." Luigi said cheerfully as he placed the key in the lock. Luigi slid the key in the lock then turned it and…ZAP! He was shocked by the booby trap in the lock and the Koopa guard laughed hysterically until Luigi finally managed to pull the key out and chucked at him, effectively knocking him out cold. "S-Shut up, y-you s-shell-head!" He snapped as his body twitched for a few seconds after the _electrifying_ experience. Wario laughed as their captor walked in. "Did you _really_ think it would be that easy you simpleton?" He taunted. "W-when I get outta here…" Luigi fumed, still twitching a bit.

Their captor laughed. "Right, right; I'm about as afraid of you as I am of the moron who thinks he's gonna find you all." "Wait, someone's looking for us?" Mario exclaimed. "Oh, poor little Toad; at least he's trying to help us." Peach said. "It's not the worthless fungus; it's that useless filler-character mechanic." "Mechanic? What mechanic?" Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Peach all shared confused looks. "I think he means Waluigi. Even you didn't know that Wario, he's your brother for shroom's sake!" Daisy snapped. "That brainless twig ain't no brother of mine!" Wario snapped. "But uh, now that ya mention it he IS a mechanic, fixes my car up well enough." Mario looked at their captor. "So you mean Waluigi is looking for us?" He just looked at all them in disbelief for a moment before answering. "That's what my sources tell me… this is just pathetic; you people didn't even know who I was talking about!" He left the room chuckling. Luigi sighed. "Well…Its official guys…" "What's official bro?" "We're in serious trouble here!"


	4. Battle of the Losers

Waluigi, Goombette, and Boomer found themselves close to Mushroom Town once again, the town where the journey started. "Okay so we've tried Bowser and King Boo and struck out both times. Who else is left?" Goombette asked. Waluigi stroked one side of his mustache thoughtfully as he thought. After a moment though he gave up. "Wah! I don't know where else to look!" He cried in frustration. Waluigi sat on a nearby rock and muttered and twisted his hands. "I don't know how to do this 'hero' stuff and worst of all; I can't cheat!" "Hey! Get a hold of yourself Waluigi!" Goombette snapped. "You _can_ do this; I believe in you, I believe you can save them!" "I believe in you too New Boss and I'll help you however I can… even if it gets a little scary." Boomer added. Waluigi looked at his companions in total disbelief. "Y-you two seriously think I can do this?" He asked. "Yeah, of course we do! And we'll help to do it because we're your friends and that's what friends are for!" Goombette said cheerfully. "Wha… really? Friends?" Waluigi repeated slowly, letting her words sink in.

"Exactly, we're gonna see this through; which means you're stuck with us, so don't go giving up just because the goings gotten rough." "E-exactly. What we need to do is look at this situation differently." Waluigi got up and nodded, now feeling more confident after his friends' pep talk. "You're right; I gotta find and save them, I've just gotta!" "That's right!" Goombette encouraged him. "You'll prove that you're just as capable of being a hero as any of them, you'll finally rise out of obscurity, and you'll-" "Finally get a date with Daisy!" Waluigi cut in, finishing her sentence, a dreamy look crossing his face. She and Boomer chuckled a bit. "Right, after all she'll owe you big time anyway." "G-good luck saving your princess New Boss!" "Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!" Waluigi fist pumped into the air, now feeling ready to press on. He looked at Goombette and Boomer. "T-thanks… I needed that. I uh, I really…I like having friends like you two." He admitted a bit awkwardly.

"So where do we look now?" Goombette asked. "That's a good question…" Waluigi scratched his head in thought. "HOW DARE YOU!" They all jumped at the screeching yell that came out of nowhere. "Oh no…she's back…" Waluigi whispered as they all saw the source of the voice. Wendy looked furious, she also looked a mess; her bow half undone, dirt and mud splotches everywhere, and random leaves and twigs stuck to and sticking out of her shell. "How dare you leave me behind! Y-you nobody, you loser!" "Loser! I'm no loser you shell-head!" Waluigi yelled back. "You need to forget about those losers because they're gone and they're not coming back! None of them you hear me?! They're all goners because-" Wendy cut herself off, suddenly silent. "Huh? Because what? What do you know about this?" Goombette demanded. "Nothing, you little fungus!" Wendy snapped. "Oh _really_? You sure about that?" Waluigi sneered, drawing his hammer. "N-now wait just minute there… you wouldn't hit me would you Waluigi? I mean a gentleman doesn't hit a lady right?" She stammered, slowly backing away from the menacing mechanic. "That would be true except… I'm no gentleman and you ain't no lady so you better start talking or I'm gonna start pounding!"

Mario, Luigi and the others continued to ponder their situation but still came up empty. "I'm sorry everyone; I don't think there's anything I can do this time." Mario said dejectedly, even his mustache drooped a little bit with his frown. "It's okay Mario, I haven't given up yet, I know there's got to be a way out of here, we just have to keep on trying." Peach said reassuringly. "Hey Bro; it's okay." Luigi chimed in. "If we're sunk at least we're gonna sink together right?" "Why do I hafta get dragged down with you losers?" Wario grumbled; irritating Daisy enough to throw her shoe at him, hitting him right between the eyes. "OW!" "Stop being such a pain you- you fathead!" "Hey guys knock it off already. All this whining and arguing isn't gonna fix this mess!" Mario tried to play referee. He sighed. "At least Toad and Yoshi aren't stuck here too; although Yoshi would be really helpful right now."

"Have you all conceded defeat yet?" Their captor asked as he entered the room once more. "Never!" Peach snapped. "We WILL find a way out of here!" Daisy added. He only laughed. "I highly doubt that. After all, you only have 30 more minutes before it's all over." "What do you mean by that!?" Mario asked in alarm. He simply laughed again and pulled a small remote from his pocket and pushed a button. The sound of stone grinding against stone echoed through the room as a large section of the floor slid away to reveal a deep pit beneath. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Luigi cried as he firmly attached himself to one of the bars of his cage. "Mwhahahahahaha!" Their captor laughed manically as the glow of the lava beneath filled the room. "Uh, somebody please tell me that's a large pit of nacho cheese." Wario said, his eyes fixed on the fiery liquid. "Why are you just now making this threat?" Mario asked. "Well you see I had to wait for my minions to bring some friends over for the fondue party." He explained. Mario looked back down into the pit and saw that what he thought were bubbles in the lava was actually something entirely different. Three Blarggs (Lava dwelling dinosaurs that are not always very friendly or easy to deal with) were swimming around in the lava below. "It's kind of a toss-up; will you succumb to the heat or will the Blarggs get to play with you first?" He burst into more wicked laughter as he pressed another button on his remote and the cages began their agonizingly slow descent toward the lava pit and eager Blarggs below.

"H-hey now waits a minute! I'm not a very good guy at all, in fact, I'm scum! Let me join your side and I could be a great minion!" Wario tried to bargain with their captor. "I don't think so. I know you'll do whatever pays the most and that's not a reliable trait. I'm not as stupid as Bowser; I'm not going to hire a greedy idiot like you to do diddly squat." "Well at least we know Wario can admit the truth." Daisy scoffed, trying not to think about the approaching end. "Hey I don't you wanna boil like mushroom soup any more than I do Princess Attitude!" Wario spat back. "H-hey Bro… before we go I just wanna tell you something, something I've wanted to say for a long time…" Luigi said, shaking but still maintaining a vice grip on the bar. "What is it Weegee?" Mario asked, focusing on his little brother rather than their impending doom. "I love ya Bro but I gotta say-"

"Who the heck is THIS guy?" Luigi was cut off by Goombette, entering the room and looking at the culprit behind this evil plot in total confusion. "And just who the heck are you, a Goomba Scout? I'm not buying any of your crummy cookies." He said. "I'm no Goomba Scout shell brain!" She snapped back. "Somebody get rid of- Wendy what are you doing here?" Wendy entered behind Goombette rather sheepishly. "I-I'm sorry… He-he threatened me and I ended up t-telling him everything…" "You WHAT!" He fumed, pulling out a magic scepter and zapping her with it, turning her into a frog and scooping her up into a jar. "Useless, just like the others." "Hey! She's finally off my back! Yeah!" Waluigi said, entering the room with Boomer cowering behind him. "And so the beanpole arrives." "Yeah, and who're you?" Waluigi asked, looking over the Koopa in front of him with little interest.

The Koopa growled a bit. "Why does everybody keep asking who I am? WHY?" He fumed. "Uh…Because we don't know? Though I could swear I've seen you somewhere before…" Luigi said thoughtfully, stroking his mustache with one hand while still clinging to the bar of his cage with the other. "Hey you dumbbell how about you get me out of here!" Wario barked at Waluigi. "If you want me to save you then shaddap fathead!"

Waluigi barked back. "Both of you shut up!" The Koopa bellowed; his wild blue hair whipping around as he turned to look at Wario and then back at Waluigi. "Seriously, who ARE you anyway?" Waluigi asked again. The blue haired Koopa growled again. "You've GOT to be kidding me! NONE of you recognize me at ALL!" There was a resounding no in response from everyone in the room. "Oh COME ON! I'm LUDWIG VON KOOPA!" Ludwig roared in exasperation. "Oh yeah! Now I remember you! You're one of Bowser's henchmen!" Luigi said. "Oh for the love of- YES! But I'm not a henchman to my father… I am a GENIUS! An evil MASTERMIND! I am going to get rid of you goody goodies and take over the Mushroom Kingdom! And you can't stop me, ya beanpole!"

Waluigi just scoffed. "Ha! You loser! Nobody even REMEMBERED you! I'll pound you flatter than a pancake easily!" "Oh really? You really think a lousy filler character can take on a character who's been a boss in SEVERAL games?" Ludwig sneered. "You? A boss? Don't make me laugh! You were only a boss in TWO games! The rest was all remakes and even then you were only a boss cause of your DADDY! _I_ was actually a boss on my OWN merit you loser!" "Sure you were a boss…ONCE and it wasn't even a main series game, just a stupid spin off to cash in on another genre!" Ludwig hissed, waving his scepter around as he spoke. "You've never even been IN a main series game! You're just a pathetic, lame, FILLER so fatso will have a partner and the little green nitwit can have a useless rival!" Waluigi grit his teeth at the emphasis on the word 'filler'. "At least I've actually been a player character in more than one game and actually gotten more recognition! Do _YOU_ have a Mario party board or Kart track named after you? I don't think so!" "Hmph! I have far more class and talent than a dimwit like you, I don't hear you composing musical scores or acting with any manners at all!" Ludwig sneered. "Face facts Wa-Loser; you're just a pathetic filler whose only real purpose is even out the numbers for a tennis match, you'll never even be a REAL boss character much less a hero character! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Waluigi hated hearing those words but a part of him still doubted he really could fight the tides, overcome his humble beginnings as a filler and really become something more; finally carve out his own place as a _true_ main series worthy character and just before he could say another word Goombette and Boomer spoke up. "You really need to shut up; you shell brain! Waluigi has everything it takes and more to deal with the likes of you and be whatever character he wants to be!" "Y-yeah! N-New Boss is t-twice-no, three-no, a million times the boss you'll ever dream to be!" "Oh, how cute… you have just, _two_ adoring fans. You must be ecstatic just to have that much support." Ludwig sneered. "Ya know what? I'm sick of you and everybody else sayin' I'm nothin' but a filler! I could EASILY be a better boss than you and a better HERO too!" Waluigi glared at Ludwig, a silent challenge. Ludwig chuckled. "Okay then, let's see what you've got! You filler beanpole!"

With a wave of his scepter Ludwig's own flying clown vehicle, a smaller version of Bowser's, appeared. Ludwig jumped in and proceeded to start throwing beams from the scepter and bob-ombs while flying around the room. "Hey! You cheater!" Waluigi yelled. "Takes one to know one, filler trash!" Ludwig taunted back. Waluigi grit his teeth again and turned to Goombette and Boomer. "We need a plan." They ran around dodging Ludwig's attacks as they talked. "Yeah, I'm out of chain chomp orbs and without Wendy's shell we're short a projectile." "M-maybe not…" Boomer motioned towards Ludwig's Koopa Troopa guard by the door. "Good idea Boomer!" Goombette, being the closest to the guard, made a run for him and hit him with her hammer, knocking him out of his shell. The guard ran out of the room quickly, abandoning his shell in favor of avoiding the cross fire and just in time as Waluigi then swung hard with his mallet and sent the shell flying through the air and bouncing off walls. While the shell bounced around and effectively distracted Ludwig, Goombette and Boomer tried to help the others. "How do you work these stupid things?" Goombette fumed in frustration as she tried to stop the cages from lowering any further. "He had a remote on him. I think that's the only way!" Peach explained. "Great. Just great. Hey Waluigi! The dork has the controls for the cages!" Goombette shouted.

Waluigi kept hitting the shell to keep up its momentum but Ludwig was good at evading the shell and didn't get hit at all. "You're pathetic! You REALLY thought you could beat me? Just how STUPID are you? You dumb plumber!" Waluigi caught the shell in one hand as it bounced off a wall and flew back toward him and looked Ludwig square in the eye. "Just how stupid are YOU? Did you really think I was actually aiming this whole time? That was all just a warm-up and an opportunity to figure out how to best use this thing." He waved the shell in his hand. "And now that I've seen how it works I can put it to some REAL use!" He tossed the shell up in the air and whacked it as hard as he could with his mallet sending it flying right past Ludwig. "You're such an idiot! You missed brick-head!" "No I didn't." Waluigi grinned wickedly. Suddenly Ludwig felt the shell hit him in the back of the head, having bounced off the wall behind him at just the right angle, and effectively knocking him out of his flying clown vehicle. "Ouch…" He whimpered on the ground, rubbing his aching head. "You think a shell to the head is all it takes to beat me?" "No, but ground pounding you might do it!" Ludwig dodged Waluigi's attempt to ground pound him but failed to dodge the combined might of his mallet and Goombette's hammer. "Ou…ch." He muttered, flattened out like freshly rolled cookie dough. "Ha-ha! We did it!" Goombette cheered. "Yeah, yeah, YEAH!" Waluigi exclaimed happily. "Waluigi number one! Now who's the loser? You're the loser!" Ludwig just glared at Waluigi. "Oh, and by the way…I'm a mechanic you shell head!"

"Hey dummy! Get us outta here before we're molten soup!" Wario barked. The cages just over half-way down the pit by now and getting closer, and hotter. "Please, hurry and help us!" Mario chimed. "Right, right. Where's the control for this stuff?" "I won't tell you a thing." Ludwig said defiantly. "Y-You better tell him; O-or else." Boomer threatened. "Or what, you pitiful excuse for a boo?" "I-I'll scare you like you've n-never been scared before!" Ludwig just laughed. "Do it Boomer. Scare him like no other boo can!" Goombette encouraged. "Yeah, show this little punk what happens when you pick a fight with us!" Waluigi added. "R-right!" Boomer turned his back to Ludwig for several moments. "What's the matter? The poor fwighted baby boo can't figure out how to make a scawey face?" Ludwig taunted in a baby talk tone of voice. Then Boomer quickly turned around; revealing his scariest scary face yet and let out the scariest boo giggle a boo ever giggled. Ludwig was so terrified that his hair turned white and he couldn't get out the door fast enough; even the Blarggs in the lava pit fled through tunnels that fed into the lava pit from outside just from the sound alone.

"Great job Boomer!" Goombette applauded her friend. "Looky here, he dropped his remote on his way out. What should we do with it Waluigi?" "Finders keepers!" Waluigi chuckled as he took the remote and pressed the button to lift the cages back up to ground level. He then pushed the third button which opened all the cages. "Freedom! Whoo Hoo!" Wario practically spilled out of his cage and onto the floor. "Ah, finally! Safe, solid ground!" Luigi sighed in relief. "Hoo boy, I really thought our geese were cooked there for a minute!" Mario said, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Thank goodness!" Peach said as she carefully made her way out of her cage. "You said it!" Daisy agreed.

Once they were all safely out of the cages everyone made their way outside of Ludwig's lair, which as it turns out was hidden in the sewers under Mushroom Town. (Eww!) "We should have a party and celebrate!" Mario suggested. "Yeah bro, that sounds like fun!" Luigi agreed. "How about we make it a royal affair and have the party at my castle?" Peach suggested. They all agreed with her suggestion. "A party at the castle? Heck yeah I'm on board with that! Especially for the food!" Wario said; salivating.

They all chattered as they headed to the castle and Waluigi lagged behind. "Geez, I go to all that trouble and not even a "thank you", they all just left." He muttered under his breath. Waluigi slowed his pace until he stopped. "What's up?" Goombette asked. "I'm just gonna go home. I didn't prove a thing. They're all just walking away, going to have their party without me." Goombette looked at the group then back at Waluigi. "Who needs them? You've got me and Boomer. We'll just celebrate your victory ourselves!" Waluigi smiled a little bit. "T-that's right New Boss! We'll celebrate with you! Y-you're cool and t-totally a hero to us!"

Toad and Yoshi sat waiting in Waluigi's living room, watching whatever was on TV. Just then the door opened and Toad jumped and hid behind Yoshi. "It's just me you chicken! How're my babies?" Toad peeked over Yoshi and saw Waluigi. "Never mind your creepy piranha plants, what about Mario and the others?" He asked. "They're fine. The princesses and the Stuper Marios are at the castle partying." "And stupid Wario." Goombette added. "Really? That's great! Thank you so much Waluigi! Come on Yoshi, let's go see everyone!" Toad jumped up and excitedly took off to Peach's castle with Yoshi. "Yeah, yeah. Go celebrate you stupid little fungus." Waluigi muttered and sank down on his chair. "Hey, buck up champ." Goombette encouraged. Suddenly there was a soft knock at the door. Waluigi got up and cracked the door. "Who is it? Daisy?" He was surprised and somewhat confused to see Daisy standing at the door. He opened the door all the way and saw her looking at him with confusion. "Waluigi… Why are you here?" She asked. "You all just left without me to have your little party; I know how to take a hint-" "No Waluigi, no; we wanted to celebrate YOU saving us! You should be at the castle with everyone else." Daisy explained. "I'm sorry, everyone just got so carried away and excited that I guess there wasn't enough communication." He stood there dumbfounded for a moment. "R-really?" Daisy nodded. "Yep. We really are grateful Waluigi. Thank you." "U-uh, y-you're welcome… Uh, Daisy…" He trailed off, trying to keep from fidgeting nervously. "What?" "Do you maybe want to… go um… food?" Daisy chuckled as Waluigi stammered. "I-I mean I know you and Luigi and all but I _did_ save you this time so maybe just as a reward or-" "Maybe." She answered playfully. "Let's go to your party and we'll see~" Waluigi felt the blush rise in his cheeks and couldn't help fist pumping and jumping for joy. "Yeah, yeah, yeah! Waluigi is the hero!"

And they celebrated all night at Peach's castle with lots of food (and I mean LOTS of food to satisfy Wario's humongous appetite!) and Mario Partying until the sun came up.

(Ludwig? Bowser grounded him for plotting behind his back and turning Wendy into a frog.)

The End!


End file.
